


Doubt

by Emme2589



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Brotp, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, sonic and tails are best bros for life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21946021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emme2589/pseuds/Emme2589
Summary: It's easy for Tails to doubt himself, but luckily, Sonic is there to set the record straight.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 76





	Doubt

Tails felt his gear wobble as he crossed the finish line, stumbling enough that he quickly dismounted and shut it off. The third lap was all a blur in his head, a cacophony of sights and sounds. His hand found his skinned elbow from the time he fell off and had to reorient himself in the race.

“Whoo!” Sonic yelped as he fell to the ground in a breakdancing move, “What a thrill! You should’a seen your _face,_ Jet!”

“How was I supposed to have seen that coming!?” Jet exclaimed, though a smile was on his beak, “You would have reacted the same way!”

“Yeah, if you could actually pull that off!”

All of them watched with bated breath as their scores were counted on the scoreboard. In this final race, Sonic got first place, Jet came in second, and Knuckles was in third.

Tails’ heart sank. He had come in dead last.

Of course, their whole team had done well enough in previous races that they still won the competition, but seeing his name in twelfth place on the scoreboard was still so demoralizing.

“Yeah! We won!” Sonic did a flip in the air.

“Good game, Sonic.” Jet accepted a high-five from his rival, “Finally! I get to practice being a gracious loser!”

“Hey!” Sonic playfully shoved him.

“Just don't expect it to be so easy next time!”

“Of course! I never do!” Sonic’s face fell when his eyes landed on Tails, “Huh? Hey Tails, are you alright?”

Tails forced a smile, “Oh yeah. Of course. We won, didn't we?”

Sonic shrugged, still unsure, “See you at the awards ceremony, Jet!”

“I look forward to it!” Jet waved as he left, “We'll win next year!”

“You wish!” Sonic rejoined his team, “Come on! Let's go celebrate!”

***

Tails watched his legs swing back and forth on the metal bench. He was just tall enough that the toes of his sneakers brushed the floor. He knew it was illogical to be so upset over one loss, but he'd never gotten a place so bad before. It didn't feel like a victory to him.

“Tails?”

Tails looked up from his sulking. Sonic was standing at the doorway of the locker rooms.

He joined his friend on the bench, “You're still up?”

Tails fixed his gaze to the floor, “Yeah...”

Sonic placed an arm on his shoulder, “What's wrong? You've been kinda out of it today.”

Tails hit his heels on the back wall, “Nothing. It's dumb.”

“No it's not.” Sonic offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile, “If it's really bothering you, then it can't be dumb.”

Tails sighed, giving a low hum under his breath.

“You don't have to tell me.” Sonic planted his feet on the floor, “But I'd hate for you to be this sad during the awards ceremony. Maybe I can help?”

Tails rested his head in his hands, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“I came in dead last.” he said, “On the final race. You and Knuckles carried me the whole time. I don't even remember most of that final lap.”

Sonic gave a sigh of relief, “Aw, is that all?”

“I know it's dumb. We still won.” Tails rubbed his eyes, _“And here I am being a downer...”_

Tails was looking away, so he didn't notice when Sonic took out his copy of the Miles Electric to pull up a video file.

“Tails.” Sonic waited until the fox lifted his head, “Look at this.”

He recognized this clip. It was from a World Grand Prix a few years ago. Tails was in the lead for most of the race, coming in first place with no problem. Jet was in second, Storm was in third.

_“Whoa! Tails!” Sonic ran up to him, completely out of breath, “You carried the whole team! That was incredible!”_

Sonic had come in eleventh place, with Knuckles in fifth. Their team would have lost that year if it wasn't for Tails.

_“Aw, it was no big deal.” Tails waved his hand dismissively._

_“No big deal!? Dude, you killed it out there!” Knuckles firmly pat his back, “You tore up that track like it wasn't even there!”_

_“No kidding!” Sonic led them off the course, “Let's go get chili dogs! My treat!”_

Sonic shut the video off, and Tails looked off into the distance.

“I...” Tails scratched his head, “...forgot about that.”

Sonic stashed the large device, “You always do this thing where you downplay all the times you did something right while amplifying those times you happen to fail.” Sonic let his hand rest on his arm, “You had terrible luck all throughout that last race, but during the times you come in first, I can tell you really earned it. And besides, nobody can be their best _all_ the time. Just because you performed worse one day doesn't mean you’re suddenly bad.”

Tails let the smallest of smiles grace his features.

“We're a team, Tails.” Sonic gave his friend a crushing side-hug, “On those days you don't do so hot, me and Knuckles are happy to carry that extra slack, just like how you do the same for us. And when all three of us fail and the Babylon Rogues win instead? Well, that's still not the end of the world. There's always next year. We can't win every year, after all.”

"Yeah..." Tails' smile grew wider, "Yeah! I wasn't even thinking about that! Thanks, Sonic!"

"No problem!" Sonic offered a hand to help Tails stand up, "Now let's go get some sleep. We've earned it, don't you think?"

***


End file.
